Built by one of the world’s richest and most eccentric inventors, it seemed only fitting that the world’s largest flying boat would be housed in the world’s largest geodesic dome next to one of the world’s largest ships.

So when the Spruce Goose emerged from a dockside hangar some 33 years after aviator Howard Hughes piloted his eight-engine wooden plane on its only flight, 500 people flocked to Long Beach Harbor to welcome it. Three years later, a swell of 3,000 people crowded the beachfront as the historic aircraft took its place inside the 12-story dome erected alongside the RMS Queen Mary.

“Oh, God, I remember the lines going around and around when the dome opened,” says John Adamson, director of special events for the Queen Mary, who was there on May 14, 1983, when Oscar-winning actor Jimmy Stewart helped open the attraction.

Hughes – an aeronautical engineer and world-class aviator with an obsession for Hollywood and its starlets – designed the aircraft at the height of World War II as a troop carrier.

Built at a cost of $25 million and assembled in a Long Beach dry dock, the Hughes Flying Boat weighed 200 tons, with an eight-story-high tail and a wingspan longer than a football field. Its eight engines sported propellers 17 feet in diameter.

Dubbed the Hercules by Hughes, he flew it only once – taking the controls for a one-mile, one-minute flight on Nov. 2, 1947.

After that, it was mothballed in a hangar at Pier E in Long Beach Harbor at a cost of $1 million a year. Four years after Hughes’ death in 1976, his corporation donated the plane to the Aero Club of Southern California, which then leased it to the Wrather Corp.

Wrather also operated the Queen Mary and figured that having the Spruce Goose nearby would lure more visitors.

On Oct 29, 1980, buoyed by high spirits and free champagne, 500 people watched as the plane was liberated from the hangar and hoisted by a giant crane onto a nearby dock.

There, it sat for three years while Gardena-based Temcor erected a dome covered by 4,032 triangular panels. At 130 feet high, 415 in diameter and encompassing 135,300 square feet, the dome was the largest in the world.

Once the $4 million structure was finished, the aircraft was pushed by barge into its new home.

During its first year, the Queen Mary-Spruce Goose attraction drew more than nearby Knott’s Berry Farm. But attendance waned in subsequent years, and operators sought other uses for the dome to help pay the rent.

“We had quite a number of large corporate parties and catered affairs in the evenings after the dome was closed to the public for the day,” Adamson said.

“There was enough room to seat 3,000 people there, so it was a novel place for large events in a very dramatic setting, with the plane in its cradle in a reflecting pool.”

Inside the cavernous structure, President Reagan spoke about the dangers of communism in Central America at a $1,000-a-plate dinner. Comedian Bob Hope, then 80, entertained 10,000 fans during a four-night engagement.

Wednesday night became fight night in late 1986, when boxing matches were held in the dome.

The Walt Disney Co. took over management of the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attraction in 1988. The company opted not to renew the lease inside the dome in 1992, forcing the Aero Club to find a new home for its treasure.

The Spruce Goose now resides in a museum built by the Evergreen International Aviation Co. in McMinnville, Ore.

The geodesic dome stood vacant until a day in 1993 when Arnold Schwarzenegger – then only an actor – was in Long Beach filming “Last Action Hero.” When rain scrubbed the scheduled filming of exterior scenes, the cast and crew transformed the dome into a makeshift sound stage.

The dome soon became a regular filming location, providing all the interior scenes for the 1994 sci-fi flick “Stargate.”

“When the Northridge Quake hit (on Jan. 17, 1994), it did a lot of damage to Warner Bros.’ sound stage in Burbank, and they approached us to use the dome,” Adamson said.

The dome housed the Bat Cave and Bruce Wayne’s manor in “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin.” Scenes from “Frost,” “The Haunting,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” and the first installment of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” also were shot there.

The dome still provides a venue for occasional film shoots, but also plays host to the annual Shipwreck Halloween Terrorfest along with roadshows like “Star Trek: The Tour,” which opened Friday and continues at least through mid-February.

And in 2003, Carnival Cruises signed a lease on the southern half of the dome as a passenger terminal and U.S. Customs and luggage-handling facility.

An organization called Save the Queen recently took over the lease of the historic ship and plans a 55-acre beachfront development of residential and commercial projects. The dome will likely be part of the plan, although details have not been released.

“It’s always been a goal to develop the dome into a multiuse facility, for concerts and other live events,” Adamson said.

“If we could get it developed properly – and right now it needs a lot, it’s bare bones the way it is now – it would be a great venue. It could hold 6,000 to 8,000 people, and there’s a need for a niche like that in this area.”

Tim Grobaty began his career at the Press-Telegram in 1976 as a copy boy and has held several positions at the paper including feature writer, music critic, TV critic, copy editor and, since 1991, daily columnist. He is the author of four books, most recently a memoir/collection "I'm Dyin' Here." He lives in Long Beach.

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